The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative announced today that it is funding 38 pilot projects around the world to help build tools and technologies for the Human Cell Atlas, to accelerate our understanding in key areas—including the brain, immune system, tissue handling & processing, gastrointestinal, skin, and technological development.

The Human Cell Atlas is a global collaboration to map and characterize all cells in a healthy human body: cell types, numbers, locations, relationships, and molecular components. Once complete, it will be a fundamental resource for scientists, allowing them to better understand how healthy cells work, and what goes wrong when disease strikes.